2018年5月5日，在德克萨斯州达拉斯市的凯·贝利·哈奇森会议中心，一名与会者走过全美步枪协会执行副主席韦恩·拉皮尔(右)、时任美国步枪协会执行董事的克里斯·考克斯和时任美国步枪协会发言人达纳·洛奇的照片。
国会议员布拉德·施耐德在一份报告中称，国税局应该调查全国步枪协会的非营利地位，以确定其是否违反了税法。该报告强调了枪支权利组织的财务不当行为。
文件，周四发布，再次呼吁调查全国步枪协会，并详述了过去一年揭露铺张浪费和内幕交易的报道。当这类交易在非营利组织的支持下发生时，它们会受到更严格的审查，美国自然资源管理局就是其中之一。
纽约和哥伦比亚特区的总检察长正在调查全国步枪协会可能违反税法的行为。施耐德还敦促美国国税局调查枪支权利组织的纳税申报单。
施耐德是民主党人，他是众议院筹款委员会的成员，该委员会负责监管非营利部门。然而，该报告和相关调查是由他的个人办公室进行的。
这些指控可能会破坏国家注册局的免税地位，而这一地位对该组织筹集资金的能力至关重要。
施耐德的报告记录了全国步枪协会向美国国税局披露的信息和国会保留的关于全国步枪协会的信息之间的差异。
例如，在2011年，全国步枪协会报告称没有在外部游说者身上花钱。然而，在向国会披露的信息中，代表美国自然资源管理局运营的公司报告称，当年在游说活动上花费了数十万美元，其中包括一项将灰狼排除在濒危物种法案之外的措施。
该报告称，美国国税局向美国国税局提交了“不正确的，可能是欺诈性的”报告，并指出2011年“不是唯一一年”发现了不一致之处。
施耐德告诉记者:“全国步枪协会及其领导层正在滥用美国纳税人，并通过损害缴纳会费的成员的利益来致富。”新闻周刊。
虽然不常见，但多位税务专家解释说新闻周刊，税务申报和游说披露之间的差异可能是由不同的报告要求造成的。国税局将游说定义为“影响”立法的直接尝试。国会采用了一个更宽泛的定义，包括游说活动，包括支持影响力运作的“研究”和“规划”。
有可能报销的费用不需要在美国自然资源保护局的纳税申报单上列明，该申报单标明了向游说者支付的款项。全国步枪协会没有回来新闻周刊该公司要求对这些完全不同的披露发表评论。
2019年4月26日，在印第安纳州印第安纳波利斯举行的第148届全国步枪协会年会暨展览上，全国步枪协会副主席兼首席执行官韦恩·拉皮耶(Wayne LaPierre)在全国步枪协会-ILA领导论坛上向来宾致辞。
此前一年，公众披露了美国自然资源保护局的支出习惯，这导致了人们对其作为非营利组织的生存能力的质疑。税法严格规定了非营利组织如何使用捐赠资金，国家税务管理局的一些安排引起了税务专家的怀疑。
例如，该报告聚焦于全美步枪协会试图购买达拉斯地区价值600万美元的豪宅，供其首席执行官韦恩·拉皮耶私人使用。而由华盛顿邮报据施耐德的办公室称，最终以失败告终，他强调该事件是“不当行为和滥用税法”记录的一部分。
全国步枪协会公开否认有不当行为，并将被破坏的合资企业描述为一项潜在投资。税法规定，将非营利组织的资源用于内部人士的私人利益可能导致其免税地位的撤销。
“球真的在国税局的院子里，”施奈德说。“我见过他们。从表面上看，很明显，国家步枪协会正在滥用它的规则。一旦国税局完成了它的工作，他们也会明白这一点。”
施耐德还痛斥NRA，因为该报告称其试图阻碍对其办公室监管的遵守。NRA现已疏远的公关公司阿克曼·麦昆(Ackerman McQueen)在2019年8月收到施耐德索取文件的请求。阿克曼对施耐德回应称，根据双方运营合同中的保密条款，未经集团事先同意，它不能披露其NRA账户中的文件。
如果国会议员理查德·尼尔，方法和手段委员会主席，决定接手施奈德的工作，该机构可以发出文件传票，而不必指望自愿遵守。这可能会让施耐德的调查越过他说他的办公室在试图获取文件时遇到的几个障碍。
纽约司法部长莱蒂蒂亚·詹姆斯也和阿克曼发生了类似的争执。她的办公室已经向该公司发出文件传票，作为对国家税务局免税地位调查的一部分，该局援引同样的保密条款试图推翻詹姆斯的命令。
施耐德一再敦促美国国税局调查全美步枪协会与内部人士的交易。然而，该机构将无法公开证实它是否正在进行这样的调查。
CONGRESSMAN'S PUSH FOR PROBE OF NRA FINANCES COULD PUT GUN-RIGHTS GROUP'S NONPROFIT STATUS AT RISK
An attendee walks by photographs of National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, (R), then-executive Director of the NRA-ILA Chris Cox and then-NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch outside of the NRA Annual Meeting & Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 5, 2018, in Dallas, Texas.
The Internal Revenue Service should investigate the National Rifle Association's non-profit status to determine whether it ran afoul of the tax code, Congressman Brad Schneider said in a report that highlights allegations of financial misconduct at the gun-rights group.
The document, released Thursday, forms a renewed call for investigating the NRA and recounts reporting over the past year that has brought to light lavish spending and insider deals. These sorts of transactions are subject to heightened scrutiny when occurring under the auspices of a non-profit organization, which the NRA is.
The NRA is being investigated by the attorneys general of New York and the District of Columbia for potential violations of the tax code. Schneider is also pressing the IRS to look into the gun-rights group's tax returns.
Schneider is a Democrat who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has oversight of the non-profit sector. However, the report and accompanying investigation was undertaken by his individual office.
The allegations could threaten to undermine the NRA's tax-exempt status, which is essential to the group's ability to raise funds.
Schneider's report documented what appears to be a discrepancy between the NRA's disclosures to the IRS and information about the NRA retained by Congress.
In 2011, for example, the NRA reported spending no money on outside lobbyists. In disclosures to Congress, however, firms operating on the NRA's behalf reported spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on lobbying activities that year, including on a measure that would exclude the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act.
The report alleges that the NRA "filed incorrect, and possibly fraudulent," returns to the IRS, noting that 2011 "was not the only year" inconsistencies were found.
"The NRA and its leadership are abusing the American taxpayer and enriching themselves to the detriment of their dues-paying members," Schneider told Newsweek.
While not common, multiple tax experts explained to Newsweek, discrepancies between tax filings and lobbying disclosures can potentially be explained by different reporting requirements. The IRS defines lobbying as a direct attempt to "influence" legislation. Congress adopts a more expansive definition, encompassing lobbying activities that include "research" and "planning" in support of influence operations.
It is possible that reimbursed expenses would not have to be reported on the line in the NRA's tax returns that identifies payments to lobbyists. The NRA did not return Newsweek's request for comment about the disparate disclosures.
Wayne LaPierre, NRA vice president and CEO, speaks to guests at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum at the 148th NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits on April 26, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The report follows a year of public revelations about the NRA's spending habits that have led to questions about its viability as a non-profit. Tax law strictly regulates how non-profit groups can spend donor money, and some arrangements by the NRA have aroused the suspicion of tax experts.
For example, the report focuses on the NRA's attempted purchase of a $6 million mansion in the Dallas area for the private use of its CEO, Wayne LaPierre. While the transaction, reported by the Washington Post, ultimately fell through, Schneider highlighted the event as part of a record of "wrongdoing and abuse of the tax code," according to his office.
The NRA has publicly denied wrongdoing and described the scuttled venture as a potential investment. The tax code provides that the use of a non-profit's resources for the private benefit of insiders could lead to a revocation of its tax-exempt status.
"The ball is really in the court of the IRS," Schneider said. "I've met with them. It is clear on the surface that the NRA is abusing its rules. Once the IRS does its work, that will become clear to them as well."
Schneider is also lambasting the NRA for what the report alleges are attempts to stymie compliance with his office's oversight. Ackerman McQueen, the NRA's now-estranged public relations firm, received a request for documents from Schneider in August 2019. Ackerman told Schneider in response that it could not disclose files from its NRA account without the group's prior consent, pursuant to a confidentiality provision in the pair's operating contract.
Should Congressman Richard Neal, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, decide to take up Schneider's work, the body could issue subpoenas for documents without having to count on voluntary compliance. This could move Schneider's investigation past several roadblocks he says his office has encountered in trying to obtain documents.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is locked in a similar fight with Ackerman. Her office has issued subpoenas for documents to the firm as part of an investigation into the tax-exempt status of the NRA, which has invoked the same confidentiality provision in an attempt to quash James' order.
Schneider has repeatedly urged the IRS to probe the NRA's dealings with insiders. However, the agency would not be able to publicly confirm whether it was conducting such an investigation.
